Orioles Offense Takes Advantage of Rangers Pitching Woes to Take Final Game in 2026 Series
The Texas Rangers stunk up the last game of their three-game series with the visiting Orioles, taking the loss in a 10-5 fashion. Kumar Rocker started on the bump for the fans in Arlington, and he got shelled early and often, putting his team at a disadvantage early. For the ‘O’s’, Cade Povich took the mound, and he was able to get through the first third of the game before giving up a three-run blast to keep the game competitive. Thankfully for him, the rest of the pitching staff was able to take care of business, shutting down any momentum the Rangers tried to scrounge up. After this loss, the Rangers are back at .500 with a record of 59-59. Baltimore improves to 57-61, ending their losing streak and trying to get back into the Wild Card race.
Kumar Rocker Stinks, Respectfully
Rocker, the young starter for the Rangers, has had a season to forget. Appearing in 22 games, the 26-year-old righty has a 4-8 record and a 4.42 ERA. He’s a strikeout pitcher, already with over 100 on the season, but he’s got one nagging issue that has been seemingly impossible to get over: not allowing runs in the first third of the game. In two innings in Game Three of the Orioles series, he allowed six hits, five runs, two home runs, and one walk. For a starter who’s been given multiple chances, you’d think Rocker would improve, but that just isn’t the case. In particular, his struggles are concentrated in the first inning, with an ERA of 7.58 and 16 earned runs allowed through 19 innings. It’s fair to wonder about his future with the Rangers, as he hasn’t been able to perform consistently for his squad, and moving him to the bullpen to pitch in relief shouldn’t be out of the question if the front office is willing to continue this experiment with the former first-round pick.
Nimmo Continues to Rake
Brandon Nimmo has been on an absolute heater, and ever since a fielding error back in the home series against the San Francisco Giants that led to a loss, the 33-year-old veteran has been raking at the plate. Dating back to August 5th, Nimmo is sitting at a .417 batting average, with multiple home runs during that stretch, including a three-run 434-foot blast to center field in Game Three of the Orioles series. The only disappointing part of his performance is that the rest of the offense can’t perform with the same consistency. Corey Seager had a resurgence performance last night in Game Two to clinch the series win for his team with a three-run blast in a clutch at-bat.
Another Disappointing Pitching Performance
When Texas goes back and reviews how the season went, regardless of whether they make the playoffs or not, the pitching is going to be the number one focus for the offseason. First and foremost, the experiment needs to be shut down for the aforementioned Rocker, as he’s going to need some more time to develop, gather his command from the first pitch he throws, and keep his confidence up in the face of adversity. Pitchers like Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, and MacKenzie Gore are going to be the forefront of the starting rotation, but the fourth and fifth pitchers in the rotation need to be addressed, and I don’t think Rocker will be in that conversation. If anything, he’ll be sent down to gather himself, or he’ll be used in the bullpen. Jack Leiter is a name to keep an eye on as the season comes to an end, as he’s currently recovering from an injury that put him on the IL, but we’ll see if he stays in the middle of the lineup or if he’s potentially moved for prospects.
With the possibility of extending the win streak to five in a row, the Rangers weren’t able to get it done as they dropped the last game of the three-game series. Rocker had an awful start, and then Skip Schumaker decided to go with Jordan Montgomery, the 33-year-old lefty, for his first appearance of the season after recovering from Tommy John surgery. His outing will be in one ear and out the other, as in four innings, he allowed six hits and three earned runs, and two home runs. It was nice to see ‘Monty’ on the mound for the first time in quite some time, as Rangers fans are the most thankful for him to be back on the team after his heroic performances that led to the team winning the World Series back in 2023. Lastly, Cole Winn relieved Montgomery after his four-inning outing, and in two innings, he gave up two hits and a run, but had a command issue early as he walked three batters. The pitchers’ mediocre performance allowed the ‘O’s’ to get 15 hits, resulting in 10 runs. This Texas squad will look to get back into the groove of things as they’ll travel to Anaheim to take on the Angels, and then fly down south to take on the Athletics.
